There are "malevolent" forces of taxation conspiring to destroy your career as a Buy-to-Let Property Investor.

This Hallowe'en is one day of the year when we have fun and can "pile on" the fear about the future, but frankly there's rather a lot to be afraid of financially - if you're like most landlord investors in the UK today.

Now, if property tax puts you under a spell, things are set to get far more ghoulish from next year, as the changes to UK landlords' taxation begin their gruesome grip on our finances.

There's no Silver Bullet - but knowing your options is the key.

Help is at hand...

That's why we're meeting with a group of determined buy-to-let owners in Westminster next week on Thursday 10th November.

It's war, and it's time to prepare our defences.

If you're around London next week, join us for an evening in Westminster as three property and tax experts join forces to give you survival strategies to manage and grow your property interests.

Due to high demand seats are now very limited, but to find out more and reserve your place, click the button below:

The tax onslaught against residential landlords has become the hot topic among property investors. And it's only just begun.

Some landlords know of the potential massive hit to profitability coming their way starting next April and a few of these have already taken steps to minimise the impact, However others are not even be aware that unchecked, these sweeping changes could potentially wipe out their buy-to-let businesses...

It's war, and it's time to prepare our defences.

So - why not join us for an evening in Westminster as three property and tax experts join forces to give you survival strategies to manage and grow your property interests?

To find out more and reserve your place, you can click the button below:

Here's some more detail...

This seminar is for you if are:

worried about the changes to tax law and how it might damage your property wealth

looking for ways to minimise the impact of the new UK property taxes on your portfolio

seeking to grow your portfolio in the most tax-efficient manner

looking for inspiration or new ideas

What you'll get out of attending this event:

Returns: Find out how to get better returns on your money and investments

Convenient location: Westminster venue, central London - you will get the details with your joining instructions

When: Thursday 10th November 2016 after work 18.30 - 20.45

Time-saving: Concentrated expertise - meet 3 experts and see what they have to say, in the same room at the same time.

Places are first come first served already filling fast so reserve your seat today.

Thought 4. Connect with a few online property agents that focus on selling discounted UK residential properties with the promise of high yields and some capital growth.

Thought 5. Mull it over with friends, family, some of whom may have experience.

Thought 6. Decide to dig a little deeper. Talk to local estate agents and engage with a few mailing lists from Below Market Value property providers around the country. Visit local property networking events to try to build a body of knowledge to take the first step. Maybe part with a few £1000's for education from a chosen property "guru".

Thought 7. Buy one or more properties from one of the above routes.

These steps are what I call Boxed-In Property - the way that newcomers are subtly guided by a well-established industry where vested interests abound. There are many who will carefully guide you through this process, sometimes at the fierce exclusion of all other options, to deliver you a cheap buy to let property in a "hotspot".

This is complicated, hard work and expensive.

I confess I'm not always welcome at traditional UK property network events, as I'm liable to let slip that among the well-tuned systems and seminars in place there to encourage investors buy more flats and houses in ever cleverer ways, the emperor has no clothes, or at least a very skimpy mankini. The seemingly unquestionable assumption from the floor is always that "this is how you make money in property", that there is no other way, let alone a better one. To dare to suggest otherwise is to be met with a frosty reception, as if you were calling their baby ugly.

The Elephant in the Room

Take for example when surprisingly negative cashflow results from all the unexpected landlord purchase costs and expenses. These, along with the litany of UK legal lettings requirements often shock the new landlord investor once they've taken the plunge. Many experts will fail to mention these crucial factors when selling you your first buy-to-let.

The truth is, UK residential buy-to-let everyone that wants to profit from property. It requires a dedication to the cause: an on-going commitment of time as well as money, a considerable risk of putting all your financial eggs all in one property basket. And it may not be right for you.

Here's the twist. Back in the late 90's and early naughties, I became the landlord that did all of the above! My goal was a truly passive income through property, but instead I became the inadvertant manager of what was almost a second full-time job. Hardly passive by any stretch of the imagination.

Was it profitable? The short answer is nowhere near what was promised. Subtle regular charges from a burgeoning support industry built around landlords serve to erode your income and profit and make you wonder why you started. This very week I have a tenant moving out of my one-bedroom Berkshire flat, which requires : new carpets throughout; total redecoration; a new refrigerator and washing machine. Followed swiftly by check-in/out costs and tenant find fees. That amounts to a loss of around six months net profits every 5 years, and that is not untypical.

Being a landlord (or Buy to Let investor) works well for a specific group of people but is completely unsuitable for many, and sub-optimal for most.

I love property investment. But I love doing it right, better!

A simple solution: co-fund a fully-managed very-high-yielding property development that when complete gives you a share of of the rental income, security of property ownership and easy ways to exit your investment when you want to, preferably with guaranteed capital growth. Sounds easy to say but hard to achieve? Not with the right partners to guide you.

Property out of a box?

Commercial hotel and resort property investment has achieved a maturity not seen in the past, and can offer secure NET yields into double digits. The trick is funding a trusted advisor who "tells it as it is" based on specialist expertise and a wealth of experience in all kinds of property investment. Once you have researched your investment options, ownership is easy, inexpensive to purchase and run, and highly enjoyable.

If you're considering property investment and wish to intelligently consider all the options, download our guide and have a chat with us afterwards.

Warren Buffett says to invest only in what you can understand. He doesnt mean this as an invitation to laziness since his own example is to move into new areas, having first put in the time and money to research these new ventures thoroughly - and to understand them.

Established wisdom is that diversification of assets is an important investment tool. A carefully chosen balanced portfolio allows you to spread the risk to your portfolio without necessarily reducing the returns. The same number and value of eggs, but in different baskets.

How does all this relate to property?

Understanding just one form of property investment would I believe be a disservice to your future. But here's the rub: it's comfortable to stick with doing what you know; you become an expert with a deep knowledge of your chosen specialist property subject.

UK Buy-to-let investors often concentrate on one aspect as THE way of securing their future income. I'm speaking from personal experience when I say that it is easy to be bitten by the bug of building a buy-to-let portfolio, and just going with what you know.

Buy-to-let alone can feel safe enough to put all the eggs in that basket, but it can be risky as like most investments there are many factors outside of the owners control, for example:

Lenders' and Bank of England interest rate rises

Property market collapse and distressed sale of your property

Legislation changes in favour of tenants

Lenders changing their tune when times are hard

Rogue / destructive tenants

These are all real examples that have happened and have hurt. Many of these can affect your entire Buy-to-let portfolio and, if you've sunk everything you have (and can borrow) into it, your future well-being.

Having come through the worse UK property crash in decades, many experienced landlords that survived it realise how close they came to a meltdown and are looking to diversify. They're not looking to the traditional financial institutions as there is still a deep mistrust of them. These investors know how powerful property investment is so are looking at other ways to invest in more property, but not just more of the same.

What other ways to profit from property?

Fortunately (and partly as a response to the world banking crisis), there are several new and interesting ways to invest in property alongside buy-to-let including:

Few of these offer any gearing - 100% of the investment is in cash. Many landlords found themselves stretched by too much borrowing in the credit-fuelled boom of the early "naughties", so this is often seen as a way of reducing the overall portfolio gearing and exposure to interest rate rises and mortgage lenders' well ... shenanigans.

The other key benefit is that each of these property investments types offer pretty pure Passive Income (something that Buy To Let promises but seldom delivers). Just like picking stocks, you do your research upfront and when satisfied, you invest. Nothing more to do during the lifetime of the investment. And unlike stocks and shares there are no ongoing broker charges that frequently reduce your net returns to the tiny interest rates many have come to accept in the UK.

In essence, don't be seduced by those who would tell you that Buy To Let is the single key to property prosperity. The stakes of sinking everything into it are high and the hassle factor stays with you as long as you own those properties.

Diversification in property can mitigate these risks now and build you stream of true passive income to enjoy in your dotage in years to come when owning flats and houses is no longer as much fun as it used to be.

With so many flavours of property investment available today, we teach our clients to plan their own mix to match the life they want to lead both now and in the decades ahead: property for income, for growth and indeed for enjoyment.

Mr. Buffett puts it very well: "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

I'll leave you with one example of alternative property investment: fractional ownership. Find out how it works with our essential guide. Just click on the image below to get your copy.

When it comes to getting the best possible return on your money, compound interest is nothing short of a miracle.

Albert Einstein is famously quoted as saying “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.

And from Warren Buffett a man who lives by it: "My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest."

So for those of us outside of North America, compound interest appears to be our most reliable route to wealth!

But how does it work? Here is a very practical example using a clever combination of our popular Park First UK airport car parking investment and Store First self-storage. Watch this short video clip to demonstrate the power and the wonder...

In a world of instant gratification, or the desire for "jam today", how about "turkey and all the trimmings tomorrow"? The choice is really yours.

To find out how more about Park First, get your investors' guide below...

PS. A 25% price rise is due in January 2015, so for a full 33% discount below RICS market valuation, now is the perfect time to come on board. Contact us at on 0118 328 3223 now.

With the surge of interest in property investment over the last few quarters, we stopped to take breath in October and take part in the buzz of excitement around the Property Investor & Homebuyers Show at London's ExCel centre.

We're glad we did, as it gave us the chance to talk to many new friends about the benefits of hotel room investment and to meet up with some our great customers.

Watch the video to find out why we loved the show so much...

We took the time during the show to explain how fractional ownership (when correctly applied) can work a treat for all types of property investor, as well as some of the key principles for successful investment.

This week sees one of the principal property investor exhibitions come to London - the Property Investor and Homebuyer Show at the Excel Exhibition Centre.

Will you be joining the 1000's of property investors attending over Friday and Saturday?

HighGround Property is joining the party and will be exhibiting, meeting customers and providing free training, and we'd love to see you there.

Come as visit me and the team at Stand 16 for a friendly chat about how to get started or take the next steps building your property portfolio both in the UK and internationally. We're also running a superb competition prize that could see you on a beach in Cape Verde.

On Saturday at 2:45pm I will be presenting a seminar in Hall 6 titled "Passive Income Through Property - Ridiculous or Real?" where I'll be discussing the merits of fully-managed (hands-free) property investment compared to traditional buy-to-let investment. Just scroll down to Saturday and you'll find us there.

HighGround is heavily involved with the work of our governing body the Association of Intenational Property Professionals I have also been invited to join a panel of experts for a panel debate on Saturday afternoon at 1pm entitled "Where in the World to Invest?". Join us for that too if you simply can't get enough of me!

Finally if you'd like to arrange a private meeting with me about your plans and goals for property investment over the next 12 months, you can do this here:

If you can't make the show you can still book a call with me. Just drop a note in the extra information box and we'll take care of the rest.

This two-day show held every Autumn in London is where thousands of both new and experienced investors gather to see whats new on the marketplace, but perhaps more importantly to learn more and to meet people who will help them profit from property.

This year I was asked to take part in the expert panel debate "What to consider when buying a property abroad for investment".

It was a great session with lots of group questions covered and plenty of excellent questions from the floor. The room was full of both new and experience investors looking for property insight and guidance on how to select the property that is ideal for them.

So for those of you that didn't make it here's a selection of some of the topics covered:

After introductions, Graham opened the panel explaining the crucial role of thorough due diligence and how a good investment broker or property agent can work with the overseas buyer or investor.

Beginning with the end in mind

Importance of Frequently asked Questions / Should Ask Questions

Importance of exit strategy

How to research your property investment

Beginning with the end in mind

This is a classic principle popularised by Steven R. Covey in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", and is we believe crucial for anyone looking to invest in property for their future. My recommendation when buying any property is to first decide exactly what the purpose of the investment is, buy visualising the desired outcome in the time frame required to deliver those results.

For instance "I would like a luxury vacation property that in five years time is delivering a 10% return on my capital each year with no hassles. In 10 years I would like to sell the property at a 60% profit. During that time I and my family would like to spend 2 weeks a year enjoying the property each year ". That's a pretty clear set of goals, now we work back from that 10 year point to today and become clear on what steps and what help is needed to achieve this today.

Asking the Right Questions

A successful passive property investment means doing all the research at the outset, with the objective of just enjoying the income and the use of the property thereafter. Overseas property can be a minefield unless the right questions are asked at the outset. Knowing what questions to ask both of yourself and all parties involved in the sale, is crucial. An expert property broker will work with you to do exactly that, and provide the answers that will let you make the informed decision on whether to buy or leave it be and move on! HighGround's expertise is in shortlisting secure property investments and asking not just the Frequent Questions, but also the questions that should be asked but sadly seldom are...

Exit Strategy

Any investment should have a clear path to selling at a defined point in the future. How easy will it be to sell your property in years to come and be comfortable that a proift will be made?

Research

Lack of reserach on a property investment is arguably the biggest source of risk especially when investing overseas. Working with an independent expert should be an essential part of this. The AIPP is a fantastic source of free guidance, which is the perfect starting point. Choosing an AIPP member to help with your research is an important decision but one which will be rewarded if done appropriately. HighGround is a dedicated AIPP member of long standing and if we are not the most appropriate partner to work with in your specific circumstances, we will tell you straight away. If we beleive we'll provide you with exactly what you need we will tell you that too!

HighGround Property shortlists its investment offering using an internal 300-points "Gold Standard" report. Any investment we offer to clients has already been through this rigourous test so its an excellent starting point for most international property investors.